Indeed it is. I am on the East coast of Florida, in a city called Jacksonville, and My throat has been a little sore for three days now, and my
allergies are giving me grief. That never happens this time of year. Several friends and relatives are going through the same thing too!

If a Hurricane passes right over the oil in the gulf, it's outer bands will sling that crap in all directions. I know. If that were to happen,
Jacksonville could be within the outer bands, and thus effected by it.

Originally posted by Negotium of Verum
Indeed it is. I am on the East coast of Florida, in a city called Jacksonville, and My throat has been a little sore for three days now, and my
allergies are giving me grief. That never happens this time of year. Several friends and relatives are going through the same thing too!

If a Hurricane passes right over the oil in the gulf, it's outer bands will sling that crap in all directions. I know. If that were to happen,
Jacksonville could be within the outer bands, and thus effected by it.

Hope for the best, prepare for the worst.

I am in Tallahassee and everybody, and I mean 100% of the people that I know or work with are having similar issues. Sore Throat, shortness of
breath, tingly tongue or dry mouth, a lot of people are having odd shooting pains in their arm pits or chest (similar to gas pains). There are a lot
of stomach ailments going around. Seems very odd for June?

My wife is a little panicky, but she has been to ER, and to our family doc. They just suggested Ativan? When you don't know what is wrong, I guess
a happy pill is the answer?

It's hurricane season in the Atlantic, and that means Mother Nature could be whipping up fierce storms and sending them charging into the Gulf
Coast any day now. In a normal hurricane season, that's bad enough all by itself... remember Katrina? But now there's something even more worrisome
in the recipe: There's oil in the water.

So what happens when a Katrina-class hurricane comes along and picks up a few million gallons of oil, then drops that volatile liquid on a major U.S.
city like Galveston or New Orleans?

Now, before we pursue this line of thinking any further, let's dismiss the skeptics out there who think oil can't drop from the sky because oil
doesn't evaporate. Actually, if you look at the history of hurricanes and storms, you'll find thousands of accounts of lots of things that don't
evaporate nonetheless falling out of the sky. The phrase "raining cats and dogs" it's entirely metaphor, you know: There are documented accounts of
all sorts of things raining down from the sky: Fish, frogs, large balls of ice, and so on.

If rain storms can pick up fish out of the ocean, then drop them on land, then they certainly have the capacity to pick up oil, too.

What in the world is coming???

Besides, as any chemist will tell you, the various petrochemicals found in crude oil evaporate even without a storm picking them up! Oil, in other
words, does evaporate into the air. Or, more accurately, some of the lighter chemicals in crude oil evaporate even at temperatures of around 100
degrees (F). Those are Gulf Coast temperatures.

These chemicals burn
Now, these lighter chemicals that more easily evaporate also happen to have lower flash points, meaning they catch on fire more easily and at lower
temperatures than other elements in the oil. The flash point for gasoline, for example, is much lower than diesel fuel. That's because gasoline is
"more flammable" and is a lighter fuel than diesel.

The EPA classifies oils into Classes A - D. Class A is the lightest kind of oil, which the EPA describes as follows
(www.epa.gov...)

"These oils are highly fluid, often clear, spread rapidly on solid or water surfaces, have a strong odor, a high evaporation rate, and are usually
flammable. They penetrate porous surfaces such as dirt and sand, and may be persistent in such a
matrix."

What about lightning in this situation? Can the oil-air catch on fire and rain fire down upon us? Someone please tell me how this is completely
ludicrous. I wish to have my persistent thought debunked.

Originally posted by new_here
What about lightning in this situation? Can the oil-air catch on fire and rain fire down upon us? Someone please tell me how this is completely
ludicrous. I wish to have my persistent thought debunked.

Completely Ludicrous.

Really it is though. There are plenty of terrible scenarios, and some of them even have the Gulf Exploding into tsunamis and fireballs, but none of
them have fire rain falling upon us.

Yes, the oil and gasses will be in the air, and the rain will bring them down, but not in enough concentration to be flammable. Even if there were
flammable, if they are amongst a rain storm, then they aren't going to have the potential energy to stay lit. Water is a very, very good fire
retardent. It takes a lot of energy to heat up water, and a little oil and gas won't be able to stay lit if it is mixed into a rain storm.

In all likelihood, the storms are a good thing. Not good for the marshes or wildlife, but good for breaking down the oil, and good for dislodging the
dissolved methane.

If the Relief Wells work, all will be significantly fixed by natural processes in a few years. They better work!

For some reason this thread, and the worry over this made me think of something very scary and disturbing.

I'm going to Orlando in Aug with and to visit family and it'll be my first time there and I was hoping to drive to the coast to swim in the ocean,
but now I don't want to... but anyway... I just thought of riding the rides at DisneyWorld, with a gas mask/air respiter. I doubt that'll happen,
but still a very scary thought.

I am living on the other end of the globe but I am very concerned about the hurricane and oil scenario... To me it sounds very dangerous and I'm a
bit surprised that news stations aren't reporting more on this.. Where are all the "experts" talking about this on television? Isn't anybody in
the government worried about this?

All of this and Alex is only the first MINOR storm of the season. A season that has been predicted to be as active as 1998 and even as active as the
recording setting 2005 season.
The Gulf is getting warmer and warm water fuels hurricanes.

El Nino has ended and La Nina is just getting started. In a La Nina summer, the jet stream, that would normally redirect or slow down a hurricane,
tends to stay on a northward track. This allows the hurricanes to advance virtually unimpeded.

While it is possible for there to be lightning-induced fireballs if the gas concentrations are high enough, they're more likely to be visually
scarier than they are a real threat, at least until the winds and rains die down.

What you should be concerned about (besides air quality) is the aftermath of a storm. If oiled water is thrown ashore and soaks large areas, the
possibilities for wildfires abound. Basically what you'd see would be like the offshore oil burns, except uncontrolled and with the added fuel of
grasses, houses, etc.

I'm not sure that we'd have the resources to deal with such an eventuality if the fires began in multiple places combined with poor air quality to
begin with, the reason for the poor quality being an excess of hydrocarbons in the atmosphere.

If a subsea methane cloud was pushed into shallow waters by currents or storms, local methane levels could possibly spike high enough to
support explosive events as well as poisoning those who breathe it.

If you are already having breathing problems, my advice is to get the hell out of Dodge while you can, things aren't going to get any better until
long after they stop the leak.

When young i used to work for a shell distributor,delivering class 3 products around town (44gal barrels).Not a weather expert but can share some info
about chemicals and gas.

WATER does NOTHING,except displaces or moves the fuel,in the case of a fuel fire can make it worse by spreading the fuel.

Dry chemicals and foams are used to extinguish gas/fuel fires.

Simple static electricity created by pouring fuel from one container to another is enough to cause an ignition source.
Cases where simply turning on a light bulb in a fumed/gas filled room,has lead to extensive renovations!!!

Natural gas will expand x10 on ignition,creating a nice little bang.

Humidity has a big role in static ignition,the more humid the atmosphere the better conditions are for ignition.

Anyone that has done a hazmat course here in oz should know these simple little facts.

I would not like to see lightening hit a concentrated cloud of gas or fumes.

Originally posted by Negotium of Verum
Indeed it is. I am on the East coast of Florida, in a city called Jacksonville, and My throat has been a little sore for three days now, and my
allergies are giving me grief. That never happens this time of year. Several friends and relatives are going through the same thing too!

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